Michael Phelps
I sank down onto the floor in the ready room. I was waiting for my first final to begin, and I knew that I wasn’t prepared for this final. I was in lane eight and I had slacked off the most in my training for the 400m individual medley. I turned my iPod up, trying to just focus. Valencia and I had decided that we wouldn’t see each other much during this part of the Olympics. We wanted to make the best of our last Olympics. So, even though we would be cheering each other on, I wouldn’t get much time with her for the next week.
Shaking my head, I walked towards the pool, forcing myself to only think about swimming. Climbing up onto the block, I got myself set, pushing off as the starting sound blasted. As soon as I made my first turn, I knew that I wasn’t going to get a medal in this event. Sure enough, I touched the wall in fourth. I shook my head, disappointed in myself, knowing that if I had just listened to Valencia sooner about getting serious I would have made it.
I mindlessly made my way through interviews, dragging myself back to my room. I just sat on my bed, staring blankly at the wall. I had watched Valencia make her first gold in the 200m butterfly today, that cheered me up. I was happy for her, even if I wasn’t happy about what I had done today. A knock on the door interrupted my thoughts. Calling whomever it was to come in, I sat up in shock as I saw Valencia walk into my room.
“Is it to soon to say I told you so?” Valencia asked, smiling as she sat by me on the bed. “Look, I know we agreed to focus, but I just have to tell you that you have two options: sulk and tank the rest of your events or get over it, admit you didn’t train for that event, and kickass in the rest of your events.”
I smiled, knowing that she was right, smiling because she knew me well enough to tell me exactly what I needed to hear. Valencia kissed me lightly on the lips and walked back out of my room without another word. I knew she was right. I just had to realize that anything that happened in this Olympics was because of how I trained and that I was in control of how I finished my Olympic games.
The next day I stood, yelling and cheering as Rebecca and Valencia competed in the 100m breaststroke. I cheered loudly as I saw Rebecca hit the wall in second with Valencia just a tad behind her in third. Rebecca and Valencia hugged each other tightly, laughing at their success. Valencia had entered this event on a whim after training with Rebecca.
I gave Valencia a quick hug as I went to talk to my teammates for my next event, the 4x100m freestyle relay. Nathan, Cullen, and Ryan joked around, loosening up just before we got ready to dive into the water, taking our turns racing for gold. After my leg, I stood, cheering Cullen Jones on as we led, barely ahead of France. Ryan pushed himself into the pool, as Cullen pulled himself out.
I started screaming loudly, seeing that Ryan was slipping a fraction of a second behind. Even though we ended with a silver medal, I knew that it was good enough for me. It was my start to my London games and I was taking what I could get.
